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Health & Fitness

What is Considered Reckless Driving in Virginia?

Virginia reckless driving includes a wide variety of offenses and for the first-time ticket-holder for a reckless driving offense, many are surprised at what exactly is considered reckless driving.

The first and most shocking part of reckless driving is Virginia Code, 46.2 862. This code states that if you're driving at any speed over 80 mph or 20 mph or more over the speed limit in any zone, then you're considered to be reckless driving. This comes as a huge surprise for out-of-state drivers.

To most people this is just a regular speeding ticket.  To be going over 20 mph the speed limit in some states is not a serious reckless driving offense in most minds. In some areas of Virginia the interstate speed limit is now 70 mph, so you could get a reckless driving ticket for going 81 in a 70 mph zone. That is only 11 mph over the speed limit. Even after several attempts by legislators to change the reckless driving statute due to this increase in the speed limit, the law remains.

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Another form of reckless driving in Virginia that most people do not realize is under Virginia Code 46.2 853 for failure to maintain control of your vehicle.  This statute says that it is reckless driving for anyone to fail to maintain proper control of their vehicle or to drive a vehicle with improperly adjusted brakes.

What does that mean?

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The failure to maintain control statute is commonly used for cases of a single vehicle accident or if the officer simply can't determine an exact cause for the accident.  Often times you will be charged with reckless driving if you lose control of your vehicle and you hit another car. This is a reckless driving charge because you have failed to maintain control of your car.  It is more or less used as a sort of catchall statute in that regard.

All too often I speak with potential clients who are surprised to learn that their single car accident equals a charge for failure to maintain control, which in turn means a charge of reckless driving. Many people don't consider that to be reckless driving if you just go off the road and don't hit anyone else. The state of Virginia considers this a reckless driving charge. 

These are only 2 of the 12 versions of reckless driving in Virginia. If you're charged with reckless driving in Virginia, contact me to learn more about what exactly you have been charged with and what you are facing. I am a local, experienced, traffic attorney who regularly handles reckless driving cases in and around the Fredericksburg area.




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